Erowid Extracts A Psychoactive Plants and Chemicals Newsletter June 2004 Number 6 e at Erowid are generally media referrers for the first week after they were Erowid.org is a member-supported shy and tend to want to focus the published (spots usually occupied by the organization working to provide free, project’s limited resources on search engines). reliable and accurate information Wdata and technology rather than on promotion Despite our reticence, it is clear that or media attention. But last year we were about psychoactive plants and getting positive media attention helps bring convinced by a couple of friends that if we chemicals. in new support and introduces the site to continued to rebuff even friendly media people who aren’t familiar with it. It’s easy, The information on the site is inquiries, we were passively tipping the buried in Erowid Central, to imagine that a compilation of the experiences, scales towards those journalists who would everyone who’s interested in psychoactive words, and efforts of hundreds of write about the project without actually plants and chemicals already knows about individuals including parents, health talking to us. It seemed likely that these all the major online resources and at least professionals, doctors, therapists, people would be less sympathetic in their has stopped by Erowid in a search. But that chemists, researchers, teachers, writing than those who were kind enough to is clearly not the case. lawyers and those who choose to take “no” for an answer. use psychoactives. Erowid acts as As the project edges over 30,000 unique In early April, Seattle’s weekly alternative a publisher of new information as visitors per day and we consider the impact paper The Stranger published a full-page well as a library for the collection our site may have on those newly exposed editorial about Erowid. The article was of documents published elsewhere, to it through these media articles, we are written by Erowid supporters who bid on and spanning the spectrum from solid reminded of Murrow’s words (below) and won the column inches in a charity auction. peer-reviewed research to creative their hint about responsibility. writing and fiction. “Erowid.org: Drug Information Wants to be Free” described Erowid and actively asked readers to support the project with donations. “Just because your voice reaches “Whether you feel drugs are a fool’s errand halfway around the world doesn’t or whether you’re an ardent proponent of mean you are wiser than when it psychedelics or other substances, you may still reached only to the end of the bar.” IN THIS ISSUE . realize the value and critical importance of such — Edward R. Murrow a vital repository of data that is independent of mass media and government control.” Editorial: Constant Commerce.... 2 It’s tempting to spend much of our time Then, in late April, there was a positive re-re-reconsidering the ramifications of the Letters & Feedback .................... 3 four-page feature article by Erik Davis individual choices we make, but our overall published in the LA Weekly, titled “Don’t U.S. Drug Control Timeline ......... 4 vision remains clear. As David, a new Get High Without It—The Vaults of member who joined after reading the LA Stuck in a Time Bubble ............... 6 Erowid supplies the ultimate trip buddy: Weekly article, wrote when describing his information”. The article included a little Drug Geeks ................................. 8 younger days of exploration: biographical information about us and Ask Erowid.................................. 11 offered a relatively sophisticated overview of “Back in those days I sometimes found the complexities faced by the Erowid project. myself in places that were hard or confusing A Survey of S. divinorum Users .. 12 Davis wrote, “Prohibition will never be the or scary and over time came up with four Eternal Control Malfunction .......... 16 same. Erowid has already forced government directives that were simple enough for me sources like NIDA and ONDCP to become to remember even under duress: Legal Updates ............................ 18 more sophisticated as they face a widening Keep Breathing. Tell the Truth. Be credibility gap with young people.” Hey, It’s A Library! ....................... 20 Fearless. Choose Love.” These two pieces precipitated a lot of Escottology ................................. 22 ;] positive emails and feedback. Their online Distillation ................................... 23 versions also became the highest direct Earth & Fire Constant Commerce Who’s in Control of the Ads? by Fire Erowid ne part of our work at Erowid is to try to stay up-to-date psychoactive products. The first of these was for a research chemical on media about psychoactive chemicals. So when, on vendor advertising a selection of research chemicals (2C-I, 5-MeO- February 13th, 2004, we heard that the Chicago Tribune DMT, 2C-E) as well as pure DXM powder. The second was for a O had published a new article about the abuse of “cold site selling “Dextromethorphan Bulk”. medicine”, we went to their website to read what they had to say. This brings up interesting questions about who is in control of The article, titled “Abuse of cold medicine on rise: Some stores try advertising in the digital age. Erowid is often accused by detractors to thwart teens”, focused on the increase in the use of DXM-containing of promoting the use of psychoactives, but we have a strict policy tablets—as opposed to syrups—among young people. The article was against accepting advertisements and choose not to link to sites we reasonable, addressing the relative difficulty of drinking a bottle of know sell psychoactive research chemicals. Yet the Chicago Tribune, cough syrup compared to the ease of consuming tablets. The concern a major urban newspaper, has systems in place which feed ads for they expressed was that increased availability of DXM-containing psychoactive chemical vendors to their readers, even going so far as tablets is causing an increase in use. to place ads for bulk DXM around a story decrying its use. It seems unlikely that the Chicago Tribune would have chosen these ads to “Emergency room physicians are reporting a sharp increase be displayed. Yet they are willing to give up control to an automated in teens abusing non-prescription cough and cold medicines, system that produces unexpected and often undesirable results. The which are back in vogue as recreational drugs because the system ignores the nuances of article content, working off of keyword products are accessible and easier to take than ever before. matches. Those three ads may have sensibly matched the search [...] The latest concerns have caused some drugstore chains term “DXM”, but they appear ludicrous when combined with the to limit purchases. But the efforts don’t go far enough, say article in question. many critics, who are urging that all such products be sold One part of Erowid’s mission is to separate the distribution of strictly from behind the counter. information from sales, with the hope this can help reduce the conflicts ‘It’s not illegal to purchase. It’s not even illegal to take in of interest that complicate neutral consideration. The problem of large quantities. It’s just dangerous and foolish and that is unwanted advertisements is a growing issue. We recently had to what is scaring everybody,’ said Dr. Charles Nozicka, director remove the Google phrase search from our search page due to similar of pediatric emergency issues. Search results were medicine at St. Alexius being displayed on Erowid Medical Center in Hoffman pages with Erowid headers Estates.” and footers, next to vendor- sponsored ads fed by Google. The article continued, telling the All too often, these ads were for story of a 17-year-old who had research chemical vendors. problems controlling his use of Coricidin tablets and eventually It’s interesting that, despite ended up in a substance abuse the War on Drugs, a search treatment center. done on a term related to psy- choactive materials—using the But what was particularly — major search engines Google disturbing? amusing? and Yahoo—results in a good concerning?—was that when portion of the browser window we first visited the Chicago filled with ads for psychoac- Tribune website to try to find tive vendors. the article, we entered “DXM” into their search field and hit The Chicago Tribune has GO. At the top of the results since taken down its article page appeared three paid ad- about the abuse of DXM vertisements (see screenshot). tablets, but as of early May One of the ads was for a website 2004, a search on the term discouraging the use of DXM “DXM” on their website still as a psychoactive. The other provided the same advertise- two were for vendors selling ment results. • 2 Erowid Extracts No. 6 / June 2004 Letters & Feedback Erowid Extracts I need to thank Erowid for all the HARD My name is Mike and I am a third-year Number 6, June 2004 WORK put into this site. My friend sold medical student. I am writing this me 5-MeO-AMT as regular AMT and I E-mail to thank you for this website thought that was what it was ‘cause he because it was very helpful to us last seemed to know what he was talking night in the psychiatric emergency Head Archivist Fire Erowid about. So I bought three thinking they service. Technical Director Earth Erowid were 8-10 mg apiece and I would take On 5 Feb, 2004 a 19-year-old single all three. But I got on Erowid and read Associate Editor Sylvia Thyssen African-American male presented to up on things and saw they could be the psychiatric emergency service Crew mindlace easily confused.